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"We did not do all this to be Big Daddy," explains Mel Lafrenz, Aramco's director of management development. "It was simply a realistic appraisal of what we ought to do to stay here as long as we could." Aramco until recently had steadily stepped up production, from 3.5 million bbl. per day in 1970 to a high of 8.2 million bbl. daily last September and was shooting for 11 million bbl. per day next year.
The Yom Kippur War changed that plan. When the Arabs ordered production cutbacks, Chairman Jungers quickly complied. Similarly, Aramco followed orders to stop exports to "hostile" nations, including the U.S., and went along with a tripling of prices decreed by the Middle Eastern oil-producing countries.
In effect, the U.S. oil companies had lost control over every phase of Aramco's operations.
How big a slice of Aramco will the Saudis demand when they eventually open negotiations? Predicts Chairman Jungers: "Saudi Arabia will negotiate something that all parties can live with."